Silver's Phoenix
by Kana090
Summary: The war is over. Aizen is dead, though the losses have been great. Gin, dead to the eyes of Sereitei, is saved by a mysterious girl. With the key to the Soul Society's future missing, who will rise to bring the Phoenix back from it's ashes? Not GinXOC.


I know I'm supposed to be redoing Flames, Wind and a Struggling student, and I actually have done quite a bit on it already, but I REALLY wanted to do this. Though I don't really know how far (or where, even) I'm going with this story, it's kinda fuzzy. But please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own Sokonau. No one take her, please.s

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Gin sat in the middle of endless devastation, contemplating the previous events as he lay dying under a rock, his mind unable to separate dream and reality. How long he had been laying there, he did not know.

Weakly, he smiled. The idiots probably though he was dead, though he knew he was not far from it. The clashes had stopped a long time ago, and although delirious with pain and blood loss, he knew he was alone.

Aizen was dead. Tousen was dead. The Arrancar had fled, and the shinigami deserted soon after. No one was left.

He saw blackness in his delusion, and welcomed it with open arms. Before fading away, he wondered faintly if Rangiku regretted his death.

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Ichimaru Gin opened his eyes thoughtfully, slowly, as they were heavy after such a long sleep. He wondered how long he had been out, thankful the pain was gone. Suddenly, he noticed a difference in his position.

The murky light of Hueco Mundo, shone in his eyes, the boulders missing from above his head. Thoughts muddled, he fully opened his usually squinted eyes in an attempt to figure out his location. He had remained in the destruction of Las Noches, but had moved to an open area. There was a coat covering his body, and bandages covering his wounds.

Gin blinked in surprise. His wounds. Sitting up slowly, not pushing himself too hard, he discovered that his wounds were gone. They simply vanished, as if it was all a bad dream, though the wreckage around him told him differently.

"I see you're awake."

Gin looked behind him, squinting his eyes once again. There stood a young girl, hardly over 13 in human years, though something in her eyes told him she was much older. Her short hair was a fiery red, though the right side of the pale face was covered by her bangs, almost as if to pretend the it didn't exist. On the left side of her face, her nose looked dainty, small, her large blood red eye half closed in a quiet signal that she was bored. Gin's eyes trailed back down her body, noticing a light brown desert cloak covering her shoulders, a white uniform covering her body.

Noticing the position of his eyes on the layer of clothing under the cloak, she said, "I stole it from this place before the War broke out." Gin nodded in slight reverence. This girl had to either be strong, or have hidden survival skills to live on a desert like this with no weapon. She reached into her cloak, pulling out a small bundle wrapped in cloth from her cloak. "Here," she said forcefully, handing the ex-shinigami the bundle. It was fruit.

"Eat up."

Gin didn't move, confused. "Now, ya wouldn't tryin' ta be poisonin' me would ya?"

"No."

"Then why-"

"I don't know," she said simply. "I just wanted some company. Now eat."

Gin didn't waste another second, and dug into the food while the girl watched the distant rolling hills of sand. All too soon, Gin finished and became throughly bored.

"So. . . who are ya?"

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, not moving her body in any way.

"Someone."

Gin's usual smile took it's hold. _'So she's that type of person, ne?'_

"A name? What'cha call yerself?"

Silence. Gin sighed. "What should I call ya? I don' think I can call ya Someone all the time."

Silence persisted. Gin almost gave up.

"Sokonau."

"Sokonau? Ne, ain't that a strange name..."

"It's not a name," she said swiftly. "But you can call me by it if you wish."

"Strange one, aren't ya? Want ta be called 'contaminated'..."

"Are you done?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Then let's go. You should have finished healing."

Gin pouted slightly. "Why do I need ta follow ya though?"

She had already taken the first steps towards the desert. She looked back over he shoulder at the larger man. "The dead don't chose whether to go to heaven or hell."

With that said, she turned back, and continued walking at a long practiced gait.

"Are, are, this one's impatient, ain't she?" (A/N: 'Are' is not in the english form, it's a sound from the japanese language like 'jeez' or 'yeash' or something, but I can't imagine Gin saying it any other way than "Are, are". It's pronounced "R-rey" or similar.)

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Hitsugaya Toushirou stood in the cold rain, indifferent to everything around him, except for the grey stone standing in front of him. A week after the war, and though many felt like celebrating, the endless cold kept celebration indoors. Nobody questioned the weather, all knowing the source.

"Toushirou?"

Hitsugaya ignored the call, just like every other one that tried to resurface his mind from his memories.

'Hinamori. . .'

The war had been deadly and brutal. Hinamori, though not cured, decided to help fight for the Soul Society, deciding that she could break Aizen of his spell. Leading her squad into battle, she fought fiercely, Hitsugaya charged with, and standing by, her every movement. Finally, Ichimaru Gin had appeared in front of him, and Hitsugaya attacked without thought, Hinamori leading her squad while Matsumoto led the Tenth. Ichimaru drew Hitsugaya away, but halfway through the fight, Ichimaru stopped fighting, instead warning Hitsugaya not to look around with that fox-like smile on his face. Hitsugaya looked, and there was Hinamori, so close to him, heading towards him with a look of absolute fear.

"_Shoot to death, Shinsou!"_

_Hitsugaya turned as if in slow motion, to see a silver blade extending towards his heart. Too fast, Hitsugaya could not move fast enough. Closing his eyes and trying to duck, his body was thrown down by an unfamiliar force, a splatter of blood indicated a connection that never occurred. Opening his confused eyes, he looked into the face of his childhood friend, too stunned to to anything but stare into grateful, chocolate eyes._

"_H-hinamori. . ."_

"_Shiro-chan... s-sorry I-I couldn't save... him..."_

_Ichimaru's blade pulled out of her dying body, allowing her to slump to the ground, only to be caught in Hitsugaya's arms. _

"_No no no no... Hinamori! HINAMORI! Stay with me! Please! I'll get you to the Fourth squad! They'll save you! Just don't close your eyes! Don't give in!"_

_She raised a hand to touch his cheek. "I-I'm s-sorry... S-shiro-chan." _

_Her hand fell, and her eyes lost all light, dull, lifeless chocolate starring into shocked and delusional teal._

"_Hinamori? Answer me! Hinamori! Please..." Though he voiced his wishes with intensity, his volume was barely above a whisper. _

"_Yare, yare, didn' know she liked Aizen-sama so much, askin' ta forgive 'er for not savin' him."_

"_Ichimaru," Hitsugaya spoke, his tone quiet but full of power never before unleashed. _

"_Don' tell me ya are angry with me fo' hurtin' her, I told ya not ta look."_

"_Ichimaru, I'll kill you."_

The fight had continued from there, but it was no longer with a angry Hitsugaya. His rage and grief almost tripled his spiritual powers, and he killed Ichimaru almost three short minutes after Hinamori died. The war ended soon after, Hitsugaya discontinuing his fight. He cradled Hinamori's dead body in his arms, carrying it to Unohana with the shock and grief evident on his face. Unohana could do nothing to help Hinamori, but Hitsugaya refused to let her out of his arms. The moment the words of condemning were out of her mouth, he had dropped to his knees, not weeping, simply holding her in absolute shock. His friend, his sister, his love, gone without truly saying goodbye. When Unohana left him in her tent, in total privacy, he began to shed his first tears for the girl who had so consumed his being.

"Oi! Toushirou! Wake up already, you're making me want to cry."

Hitsugaya didn't even bother to correct the strawberry standing next to him. He didn't speak at all.

Ichigo soon got bored of watching the entirely silent captain, and started to wave his hand in front of Hitsugaya's face, only to have his wrist caught in an iron grip by the little captain. The only reaction he had gotten all week.

Hitsugaya looked at the hand in his grip, before looking at it's owner with dead eyes. Ichigo hadn't expected to see Hitsugaya like this. The bags under his eyes were ominous, the normally pale face now a sickly white, with eyes deprived of any emotion. No anger, no grief, no shock even. Simply indifference.

"Toushirou..." Ichigo started, "you need to come back. Everyone's worried about you, and this weather isn't helping anybody."

Hitsugaya starred at Ichigo, his eyes displaying his incomprehension. Ichigo sighed, know it would be a long day for him and the short captain of the Tenth Squad.

"Come on, shortie, you know Matsumoto's gonna get drunk again..." Ichigo tempted, trying to get any reaction out of the young boy in front of him. Hitsugaya simply looked back at the name engraved in fancy letters in front of him: Hinamori Momo. He dropped Ichigo's wrist, about to lose himself once more.

"Why?"

Ichigo's voice had been full of anger for the first time. Though not really interested, Hitsugaya looked up at the young man again.

"Why do you punish yourself?"

Hitsugaya displayed emotion for the stubborn teen in front of him, a novelty. His eyes seemed to grasp the question, his expression pained.

"Kuro... saki..." he said slowly, and despite it being the first time he had spoken, Ichigo didn't give up on his anger, his eyes drilling into Hitsugaya's. Hitsugaya looked at the stone again.

"It's... my fault," he said, his voice cracking slightly.

"How? Tell me how, exactly?"

Hitsugaya didn't speak for a while, preferring silence to gather his thoughts. "She... If I didn't look..." Hitsugaya stopped, breathing deeply to avoid the onslaught of fresh tears in front of this almost stranger, the rain acting for him. "If I didn't look away, she wouldn't have had to step in front of me. She would be alive."

"How is that your fault?" Ichigo spoke, angry at the boy in front of him for making everyone worry so much.

"It just is. I know it is-"

"You know nothing."

Hitsugaya looked over at the younger shinigami.

"If you were at fault for looking away, can you imagine how much death is my fault?"

Hitsugaya remained silent, allowing Ichigo to continue.

"I know it's hard to imagine, but I know exactly how you feel. When I was younger, and my mother was still alive, she was the pillar for my family. Everyone leaned on her, and she took it in stride, laughing away all of our pains." Ichigo smiled slightly. "I loved her more than I could ever imagine. She was my mother, my friend. But one day, we were walking by the river," Ichigo said, his voice taking on a solemn tone. "I thought I saw a young girl about to jump into the river, so I ran after her, trying to stop her from jumping. Next thing I remember, my mother laid on top of me, protecting me with her dead body."

Hitsugaya showed slight emotion again, a kindred pain to Ichigo's.

"For a long time, I blamed myself. She was killed by a hollow, one that wanted me, not her. It was my fault she died, or at least, so I thought. The point is," his voice taking on a happier note, "another person's actions are not your fault. Don't blame yourself for Hinamori's death." Hitsugaya flinched slightly at the word "death". "Did you pull her in front of you?"

Hitsugaya gave a slight shake of the head.

"Did you ask her to jump in front of you?"

Hitsugaya gave a slight shake of his head again, eyes looking somewhat downcast.

"Did you force her to do anything?"

There was silence.

"No... but-"

"No 'but's. It isn't your fault. Now come on, do you think Hinamori would like it if you wasted away in front of her grave like this?" asked Ichigo with a smirk. Hitsugaya looked up at the younger man, before looking down at the grave again. Ichigo frowned, until he noticed it had stopped raining, the clouds shrinking slightly.

"Well," said Ichigo, scratching the back of his head, "it's a start."

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So... if you like it, tell me, and I shall continue. Though be warned, I don't know where this is going. Well, I know a basic plot, but I have no idea how to end it, having never ended a story before.

In case you are wondering about the title, "Gin" means "silver" in Japanese, to give you a hint.

But this is _**not**_ a GinxOC story. NEVER!!!

Constructive criticism is very much appreciated!

Kana090


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